Protecting the Environment
Our club is actively involved with hands-on projects and financial support directed at improving the environment.
Chestnut Hill Garden District
Chestnut Hill Rotary volunteers regularly "dig in" to help maintain the plantings at the pergola at Cresheim Valley Drive and Germantown Avenue which is part of the Chestnut Hill Garden District's array of small parks, an essential part of the local environment.
A pergola is defined as “an arched structure forming a framework for climbing or trailing plants.” The pergolas form a gateway to Chestnut Hill and Mt. Airy in Northwest Philadelphia. The club has been maintaining the plantings surrounding the pergolas for more than 15 years.
The club’s foundation also provided financial support for the structural restoration of the pergolas along with Chestnut Hill Community Fund and Valley Green Bank (now Univest) in 2015.
The club also provides grants for maintenance programs at the Garden District’s Peace Park, one of many lush pockets of parks that adjoin Germantown Avenue.
Peace Park, located at Germantown and East Mermaid Lane, was renamed in 2019 in collaboration with the International Institute for Peace Through Tourism and Chestnut Hill Rotary to honor the memory of Johanna Sigmund, who was killed in the 9/11 attacks. Her father, John, who passed away in 2021, was a member of the club and prominent member of the community.
In this video, Chestnut Hill Rotary volunteers were busy, raking and removing trash for mid-winter cleanup at the Pergola in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia Rotary volunteers have been taking care of the pergola since 2005.
Recycling
Club volunteers conduct recycling events to collect electronics that otherwise would go to a landfill. Chestnut Hill Rotary partnered with the area’s new Rotary Eco Club and People Advancing Reintegration Recycle Works that provides transitional employment to formerly incarcerated people. The club’s foundation also provides grants to support PAR-Recycle Works’s innovative programs which helps build safer communities and contribute to stronger families while saving taxpayer money.
Rotary is committed to supporting activities that strengthen the conservation and protection of natural resources, advance ecological sustainability, and foster harmony between communities and the environment. Rotary members are tackling environmental issues the way they always do: coming up with projects, using their connections to change policy and planning for the future.
